Safest Bet
by baby8love
Summary: Follow-up to "Fold Equity".


"What?" Cal asked in complete annoyance. He had had enough. Ben had been shooting him undeniable looks of rage since their departure from Vegas and he had no idea why. Now that they were back in the safety of the Lightman Group offices, Cal had to find out the truth. "What is your problem?"

Ben followed him into his office. "Nothing."

Cal smirked, pointing at Ben's hands, which were squarely on his hip. "Your posture states otherwise." He sat down and reveled, for a moment, being able to be in his own chair again. "C'mon then, out with it! You're obviously upset with me about something. Let me have it then!"

There was a pause as Ben considered backing away but then he stepped forward and asked angrily, "What the hell is wrong with you?" His arms were opened for added emphasis.

"I'm not sure but I have a feeling you're about to tell me?" Cal's face was void of emotion but there was a slight hint of amusement in his voice.

"You…" Ben paused again and paced back and forth as if trying to calm himself down before he continued. He kept shaking his head. "I don't even know how she stands you!"

"She?"

"Yes! Gillian!"

"Ah…" Cal's lips curled up into a smile. "Finally, we've reached the coveted point."

"You had her beside you, all dolled up, looking gorgeous as all hell and you'd rather spend the entire night at the roulette table? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I take it you would've done things differently if you were in my shoes?"

Ben knew by the lilt in Cal's voice that he was having fun with this but he didn't care. He forged ahead. "Yeah, I would've! I would've taken her out and shown her the night of her life. A little good food, a little good wine, a little bit of dancing. I would've done everything and, actually, that's what I was gonna do except when I pulled the car up to the front, she was nowhere to be found! You know why? Cuz she was beside your sorry ass all night, making sure you didn't gamble the entire company away!"

"So you're angry cuz she chose to stay with me rather than have fun with you."

"I'm angry cuz you're treating this like it's some kinda joke! Lemme tell you something, Lightman, you won't find it so funny when, one day, you look beside you and find that she's not there to hold you down anymore."

"Hey!" Both men looked to find Gillian standing in the doorway, looking back at them curiously. "What are you two talking about?"

"You, actually." Cal answered rather casually, leaning back in his chair.

Ben shot him a semi-horrified look, clearly not wanting the contents of their conversation to be shared with Gillian. "Uh…yeah, we were just…saying how…uh…you really saved the company by pulling this one," He gestured at Cal, "away from the roulette table."

"Yeah, well, he might've gotten lucky once with his double zeros but I wasn't about to let him try to give me a heart attack a second time that night."

"What? Need I remind you, if it wasn't for my bet, we would not have come home two million dollars richer!" Cal frowned, displeased with the way Gillian spoke about his gambling habits.

"And need I remind you, if I hadn't pulled you away, we probably would've come home, what? Five, six million dollars in the red?" Gillian shot back, not missing a beat.

Ben looked at Gillian and then at Cal. He shook his head and chuckled quietly. "I think that's my cue to leave. I'll see you two later."

Gillian waited until Ben was clear out of the room before she looked back at Cal suspiciously. "Ok, what was that about?"

"What was what about?" He asked innocently.

"What were you two really talking about before I interrupted?"

"You! I told you." Gillian was looking at him hard now, so he stared back. "I'm not lying. You know, Reynolds told me about his plans to wine and dine you before you so cruelly tore me away from my game."

"Oh, he told you about that?"

This time, it was Cal's turn to study her reaction. He smiled. "You're blushing."

"I am not!" She protested but that only seemed to make her blush even more.

"I apologize for ruining what might've been."

"Don't be dramatic, Cal. He was just gonna show me around town."

"Even though you've been there almost as many times as I have?"

She shot him a look of disapproval for the smirk on his face. "Funny you say that because everytime I've been there, I've spent all my time trying to bring you home rather than actually seeing the sights."

"Then we should go again."

"Right, like I'm gonna fall for that one, Cal." She shook her head and laughed.

"No, I'm serious, Foster. You, me, and Vegas. I promise I'll stay at least 50 feet from the roulette table."

Realizing he was serious, Gillian stopped and narrowed her eyes at him. "What did Ben really say to you?"

"Nothing! This has nothing to do with Ben. Unless, of course, you want this to have to do with Ben. In that case, I could arrange for you to go with him instead. I'm sure he'd enjoy that very much."

"Cal, go home and wash Vegas off of you." She began to walk to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Oy! So…you, me, and Vegas, Foster?"

"Goodbye, Cal."

As Gillian disappeared through the doorway, Cal smiled in satisfaction to himself. There was always going to be something thrilling about Vegas to him. The chance, the women, all the shiny things, they were great but he knew he was a different man now. The thrill of betting on double zeros was fun once in a blue moon but it no longer filled his void like it used to. No, that job had been taken over by something, no, _someone_ else already. He saw it a while ago and it was just a matter of time before she saw it too.


End file.
